'''''The Fall of Arthur''''' is a poem by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] concerned with the legend of [[King Arthur]] and written in the [[Old English]] alliterative metre. It was published, along with three essays by [[Christopher Tolkien]] on [[23 May]] [[2013]].<ref>{{webcite|articleurl=http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/Titles/79908/the-fall-of-arthur-j-r-r-tolkien-9780007489947|articlename=The Fall of Arthur: J.R.R. Tolkien, Edited by Christopher Tolkien|website=[http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/ HarperCollins]|accessed=10-October-2012}}</ref>

−

According to [[Humphrey Carpenter]], the poem "''has alliteration but no rhyme [and] did not touch on the Grail but began an individual rendering of the [[Wikipedia:Le Morte d'Arthur|Morte d'Arthur]], in which the king and Gawain go to war in 'Saxon lands' but are summoned home by news of Mordred's treachery''". "The Fall of Arthur" was read by [[E.V. Gordon]] and R.W. Chambers, who both approved of the poem.<ref name=Bio>[[Humphrey Carpenter]], ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography]]'', pp. 168-8 (1977 ed.; Carpenter also published some quotes from the poem)</ref><ref>[[Verlyn Flieger]], "Arthurian Romance", in ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment]]'', pp. 34-5</ref>

+

==Contents==

+

*Foreword

+

*''The Fall of Arthur''

+

*Notes on the Text of ''The Fall of Arthur''

+

*The Poem in Arthurian Tradition

+

*The Unwritten Poem and its Relation to ''The Silmarillion''

+

*The Evolution of the Poem

+

*Appendix: Old English Verse

−

The writing of the poem was abandoned in the mid 1930s,<ref name=Bio/> but in a 1955 letter to [[Houghton Mifflin]], his American publishers, Tolkien mentioned that he hoped to finish the "long poem".<ref>{{L|165}}</ref> Although the state of the manuscript(s) is unknown, there is a rumour that the poem has 954 lines.<ref>N.E. Brigand, [http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/03/lewiss-lost-aeneid.html#comments Comment to the blog post ”Lewis’s Lost Aeneid [Updated]]” (5 March 2011) at [http://lingwe.blogspot.com/ Lingwë] (accessed 8 March 2011)</ref>

+

==From the publisher==

+

The world first publication of a previously unknown work by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], which tells the extraordinary story of the final days of England’s legendary hero, King Arthur.

−

[[Carl F. Hostetter]] appears to have been working on transcribing a manuscript by Tolkien which seems to be a fragment of his ''The Fall of Arthur''.<ref>[http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/67509-tolkiens-handwriting-scans/page__p__1349111#entry1349111 Tolkien's handwriting scans] at [http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/ The Fountain Pen Network] (accessed 4 May 2011)</ref>

+

''The Fall of Arthur'', the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur King of Britain, may well be regarded as his finest and most skilful achievement in the use of the [[Old English]] alliterative metre, in which he brought to his transforming perceptions of the old narratives a pervasive sense of the grave and fateful nature of all that is told: of Arthur’s expedition overseas into distant heathen lands, of Guinevere’s flight from Camelot, of the great sea-battle on Arthur’s return to Britain, in the portrait of the traitor Mordred, in the tormented doubts of Lancelot in his French castle.

−

==See also==

+

Unhappily, ''The Fall of Arthur'' was one of several long narrative poems that he abandoned in that period. In this case he evidently began it in the earlier nineteen-thirties, and it was sufficiently advanced for him to send it to a very perceptive friend who read it with great enthusiasm at the end of [[1934]] and urgently pressed him ‘You simply must finish it!’ But in vain: he abandoned it, at some date unknown, though there is some evidence that it may have been in 1937, the year of the publication of ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and the first stirrings of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. Years later, in a [[Letter 165|letter of 1955]], he said that ‘he hoped to finish a long poem on ''The Fall of Arthur''’; but that day never came.

+

Associated with the text of the poem, however, are many manuscript pages: a great quantity of drafting and experimentation in verse, in which the strange evolution of the poem’s structure is revealed, together with narrative synopses and very significant if tantalising notes. In these latter can be discerned clear if mysterious associations of the Arthurian conclusion with ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', and the bitter ending of the love of Lancelot and Guinevere, which was never written.

+

+

==Pre-publication history==

+

The poem's existence was first revealed in [[1977]] when ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'' was published. In [[Letter 165|a 1955 letter to Houghton Mifflin]], Tolkien, discussing his use of alliterative verse, mentioned that he hoped to finish his "long poem" ''The Fall of Arthur''.<ref>{{L|165}}</ref>

+

+

In his [[J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography|1981 biography of Tolkien]], [[Humphrey Carpenter]] published a few brief extracts of the poem and commented that it "has alliteration but no rhyme [and] did not touch on the Grail but began an individual rendering of the [[Wikipedia:Le Morte d'Arthur|Morte d'Arthur]], in which the king and Gawain go to war in 'Saxon lands' but are summoned home by news of Mordred's treachery".<ref name=Bio>[[Humphrey Carpenter]], ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography]]'' (1977 ed.), pp. 168-8</ref> It was also revealed that "The Fall of Arthur" was read and approved by both [[E.V. Gordon]] and R.W. Chambers,<ref name=Bio/><ref>[[Verlyn Flieger]], "Arthurian Romance", in ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment]]'', pp. 34-5</ref> and that the writing of the poem was abandoned in the mid 1930s.<ref name=Bio/>

+

<!--

+

==Reception==

+

Christopher Tolkien

+

John Garth

+

Shaun Gunner

+

HarperCollins

+

-->

+

==See also==

+

*[[Letter 165]]

*''[[The Book of Kyng Arthur]]''

*''[[The Book of Kyng Arthur]]''

==External links==

==External links==

−

+

*[http://www.tolkienestate.com/the-fall-of-arthur/ The Fall of Arthur: A Brief Presentation] by [[Christopher Tolkien]] (at the website of the [[Tolkien Estate]])

From the publisher

The world first publication of a previously unknown work by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the extraordinary story of the final days of England’s legendary hero, King Arthur.

The Fall of Arthur, the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur King of Britain, may well be regarded as his finest and most skilful achievement in the use of the Old English alliterative metre, in which he brought to his transforming perceptions of the old narratives a pervasive sense of the grave and fateful nature of all that is told: of Arthur’s expedition overseas into distant heathen lands, of Guinevere’s flight from Camelot, of the great sea-battle on Arthur’s return to Britain, in the portrait of the traitor Mordred, in the tormented doubts of Lancelot in his French castle.

Unhappily, The Fall of Arthur was one of several long narrative poems that he abandoned in that period. In this case he evidently began it in the earlier nineteen-thirties, and it was sufficiently advanced for him to send it to a very perceptive friend who read it with great enthusiasm at the end of 1934 and urgently pressed him ‘You simply must finish it!’ But in vain: he abandoned it, at some date unknown, though there is some evidence that it may have been in 1937, the year of the publication of The Hobbit and the first stirrings of The Lord of the Rings. Years later, in a letter of 1955, he said that ‘he hoped to finish a long poem on The Fall of Arthur’; but that day never came.

Associated with the text of the poem, however, are many manuscript pages: a great quantity of drafting and experimentation in verse, in which the strange evolution of the poem’s structure is revealed, together with narrative synopses and very significant if tantalising notes. In these latter can be discerned clear if mysterious associations of the Arthurian conclusion with The Silmarillion, and the bitter ending of the love of Lancelot and Guinevere, which was never written.

In his 1981 biography of Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter published a few brief extracts of the poem and commented that it "has alliteration but no rhyme [and] did not touch on the Grail but began an individual rendering of the Morte d'Arthur, in which the king and Gawain go to war in 'Saxon lands' but are summoned home by news of Mordred's treachery".[4] It was also revealed that "The Fall of Arthur" was read and approved by both E.V. Gordon and R.W. Chambers,[4][5] and that the writing of the poem was abandoned in the mid 1930s.[4]